Latest Stories

Back in August of 2017, North Carolina emcee and Free The Optimus founding member C.Shreve The Professor released an EP by the name of Mommy Love To Dance, a fun release that saw Shreve stepping out of his comfort zone. Just before the year was over, he comes back with a companion album that’s right in his wheelhouse, Daddy Love To Rap.
If Mommy Love To Dance is C.Shreve switching things up and trying something new, Daddy Love To Rap is C.

One of the best parts of every December is when Fake Four rolls out Freecember, their tradition of releasing an EP or other project every week of December from a lesser known artist and giving it away for free. This particular entry comes from Bay Area artist OneWerd, who gives us Alive.
If you’re a regular reader of Scratched Vinyl, you should already be familiar with OneWerd, who has been going strong for a few years now, and most recently released his album Becoming on Acid Lab Records back in March.

Harrison Blakoldman is a producer from Paris and former member of the PAPAJAZZ crew. His latest release on the Soulection label is a short five-song EP, which is bound to catch some ears.
HBO covers a lot of ground with this EP, so much that it’s hard to pigeon hole him with genre labels. The best comparison I can think of would be DJ Nobody with the way he’s able to blend so many different styles at the same time.

MyrihaB is part of the Not Enough Mics collective, a group of womyn hip hop artists in the Midwest, and Life of a Struggling Student marks her debut album. The Detroit native has come to Madison to go to school, and this album documents that experience. It’s a great debut, and it presents a unique perspective about a situation that many of us go through, yet doesn’t get a lot of coverage.

CRASHprez is up-and-coming emcee who has quickly established himself in the Madison hip hop scene. An eighteen-year-old college student who came to the Madison from Maryland, he dropped this EP on election day. With this release, it’s easy to see that there’s a lot of talent in this young man.
With a title like I Hate All You Rap N—-s: A Thesis, you can correctly assume that there is a certain amount of anger and bitterness to CRASHprez’s music.

If only every up and coming producer had a back catalogue like BoomBaptist. Over the course of this year, the Austin beat maker has dropped several volumes of music he’s crafted in the past, before he started releasing music, in which we’ve been introduced to the different styles that BoomBaptist is capable of as an instrumental hip hop producer. We’ve also had the fortune of being able to listen to BoomBaptist explore and change in fast-forward, which is also incredibly interesting.

There’s a common misconception that any artist who’s been labeled “nerdcore” doesn’t actually care about hip hop, it’s merely a means to an end for them. The truth, however, as it is with most things, is much more complex. There are certainly a few nerdcore artists and fans out there that have helped perpetuate that stereotype, but there are just as many, if not more, that are true hip hop fans and artists that just happen to be nerdy.

I’m always excited to find hip hop from cities I’m not familiar with as a hip hop fan. In this case, that city is Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Happy Unfortunate started when two friends both faced the tragedy of their respective dad’s deaths, and decided to join forces and take their love of hip hop more seriously. The name they chose refers to the positive creativity that they were able to build out of the unfortunate situation that brought Malcolm-Jay and DJ Envoy together.

Emcee Aquil has been making records in his hometown of Philadelphia for a few years now, but has remained relatively unknown outside of the area until now. He seems poised to breakout, though, with his latest album, Land of Synth. Working with a handful of producers constructing songs on synthesizers, Aquil introduces himself to a potentially new audience as a thoughtful and creative artist.
The first comparison that came to mind when I heard Aquil rhyme was to another Philly emcee, Has-Lo.

Amin PaYnE is a producer raised Aukland, New Zealand and now living in Melbourne, Australia. He has put in work as part of Condensed Milk along with Jackson Miles and MåSëlf, and as part of The Operatives with Silent Jay. He has put out a few solo projects over the last couple of years as well, including the enjoyable tributes to Gil Scott-Heron and Curtis Mayfield. This album once again allows Cascade to introduce everyone to a talented international producer they might not have found otherwise.